


It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

by aerye



Category: due South
Genre: Angst, Memes, Multi, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-03
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-04-17 17:51:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14194437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aerye/pseuds/aerye
Summary: Someone doesn't want to go to the Christmas Eve party at the 2-7. His boyfriends set out to convince him.





	It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [china_shop](https://archiveofourown.org/users/china_shop/gifts).



> For china_shop, who gave me the first line and the pairing. The rest is my fault.

"You're telling me you'd rather work Christmas Eve than go to a party at the 2-7."

If possible, Kowalski's shoulders hunched even more and his head dropped like he was actually reading the bulletin in front of him.

"Ray, if Ray feels that he is needed else—"

"Y'know, Vecchio, there are a lot of married guys who'd like to spend Christmas Eve—"

"Do I look like I'm in the mood for your humble, good-guy bullshit?" Ray asked, in a voice that was a whisper in intent only. The chatter in the squad room dropped a level as everyone tried to listen in without looking like they were listening in. "Christ," Ray whispered again, although not so much quieter that it helped. He straightened. "My office, Kowalski."

Benny tucked his hat under his arm. "Ray, shall I—"

"You, too."

They probably made an interesting sight: Kowalski lit like a firecracker and Benny wearing that serious, solicitous look he got when he was concerned but really didn't understand the cause of the argument.

Ray slammed the door behind him hard enough that the venetian blinds rattled. He shrugged out of his suit coat and hung it on a hook before loosening his tie. "Okay, Kowalski, you wanna tell me what's really going on here?"

"There's nothing going on." Kowalski dropped into a chair and propped one boot against the desk.

"Get your damn shoes off my desk," Ray said.

Kowalski slung the leg to which the offending foot was attached over the chair arm. "There's nothing going on," he said again, sliding down in the chair. Damn punk.

"Then why don't you want to come to the party?" Ray leaned back in Welsh's chair—well, it still felt like Welsh's—and pulled Kowalski's formal request from the center drawer of the desk and tossed it across the blotter at him.

Kowalski sighed, like he'd said what he was about to say a million times. (It hadn't been a million. Maybe only like, fifteen.) "There are a lot of married guys who'd like to spend Christmas Eve with their families. _You_ need personnel to cover. _I_ ," Kowalski placed his palms on his chest and managed a twisted half-bow from the waist, even in his pretzeled condition, "am _graciously_ offering to help out."

"It really is a fine—"

"Shut up, Benny." Ray turned to Kowalski. "You know our shortage is in beat cops, not detectives. When was the last time you were a beat cop?"

Kowalski fidgeted.

"And speaking of married guys who like to spend time with their families— _I_ , as a very recently 'married' man"—he had to use the finger quotes; there weren't any statutes that covered their particular situation—"of two whole weeks would like to spend the evening with my husbands."

"One husband." Kowalski look like he regretted it the minute he said it and tossed an apologetic look over at Benny, who frowned. Still didn't shut Kowalski's mouth though. "You got one husband, Vecchio. I can show you the entry at City Hall."

Ray reached across the desk and grabbed Kowalski's left hand, which sported a ring even a casual observer would say was identical to one on his own ring finger, and Benny's. "So what's this then?"

Kowalski pulled his hand away and tucked both hands under his arms. "It ain't legal."

" _Legal_?" 

Benny cleared his throat. "Ray, if I may suggest, perhaps we should—" He tipped his head stiffly in the direction of the window. 

Ten people stopped staring and looked down at their desks.

"Right. We can't have this discussion here." Ray slammed the desk drawer shut and stood.

"Supply closet?" Benny offered helpfully.

"Supply closet," Ray answered him grimly.

"Supply closet?" Kowalski asked in bewilderment as they left Ray's office and started down the hallway.

(Frannie, who was tidying up her coffee cart, snorted as she watched them go by. "You go, bro.")

The fit was no better than it had been in Ray's detective days, barely room for the three of them. Benny pulled the chain that lit the one light bulb. 

"So this," Ray gestured among the three of them, "this ain't legal, huh? And if it ain't legal, what? It doesn't mean anything?"

"I didn't say that."

"Ray." Benny put a hand on Kowalski's arm. At least he didn't shake it off. "You know Ray and I got married because—"

"Whatever." Kowalski cut him off. It was apparently one of those days when Benny would never get a chance to finish what he was saying.

"We flipped a coin! Even steven!" Ray ran his hand over his bristled head. "You said you were okay with it!" he exploded.

Kowalski twitched. He was back to communicating in shrugs.

" _What?!?_ " Ray demanded.

"I was okay with it! I _am_ okay with it." Kowalski studied his thumbnail. "'Cept now he's Mr. Lieutenant Vecchio and you're Mr. Constable Fraser—"

"Actually, I kept my name," Benny offered helpfully. He seemed pleased with finishing his sentence.

"—and I'm just Detective Stanley Kowalski, like always. And nobody in that room out there knows about me, so while you and Fraser can play all the mistletoe games you want, I gotta smile and pretend you're both my best buddies and that's that."

The supply room was quiet for a minute. Then Ray shook his head and laughed. "You're an idiot."

"Fuck you—"

"You. Are. An. Idiot." Ray shook his head as he laughed again. "You don't think those people out there know what's what? You really think that they think you're our 'best buddy'?"

"What the hell else would they think?" Kowalski lashed out, sharp as a whip.

"That we come into work in the same car every morning?" He stepped right into what little personal space Kowalski could still call his own. "That sometimes when they call my cell you answer, even when it's the middle of the night? And sometimes when they call your cell phone Benny answers?" 

Kowalski shrugged again. The man could shrug in seven different languages.

"That sometimes I can't keep my hands off you?" he whispered, catching Kowalski's shoulders in his hands to keep him from moving away.

"Yeah?" Kowalski looked at him, then over at Benny, who stepped forward to place his own hand on Kowalski's back.

"Yeah." Ray pulled him closer. "Yeah." He tipped his head down, stopping only when his mouth was millimeters from Kowalski's, forcing Kowalski to close the distance. It was a hard kiss, a good kiss. Kowalski's breath was uneven, and skittered across the space between them when it was over. Then Benny put a hand on the back of his head, tugging him sideways to give Kowalski a kiss of his own, in that totally focused way Benny had. Their lips were wet when they were done.

"So we good here?" Ray asked softly.

Kowalski took a deep breath. "Yeah, but—I mean, this still don't mean the rest of the squad—"

"On the life of my mother, I swear you will drive me insane." Ray grabbed Kowalski's arm and dragged him out of the supply closet, down the hall, and back into the squad room, stopping squarely under a bunch of mistletoe Frannie had hung the day before. He pulled Kowalski close, and laid what he thought was one of the top ten kisses of his life on him, lots of lips and tongue and potential for beard burn. When he was finished, Kowalski stared at him with huge eyes, but his mouth was shut, thankfully. Benny was right on his mark, turning Kowalski gently, tilting his head up, and planting a gentle—but no less heartfelt—kiss on Kowalski's now swollen lips.

Ray turned to the squad. "Any questions?" he asked, looking around the room. 

A couple of people stared back at him with eyes as big as Kowalski's, but then Frannie broke the silence. 

"Just wondering what took you so long." She picked up a notebook from her cart. "So I'm guessing we got one more RSVP for the party?"

Ray looked at Kowalski, who looked like he was still unscrambling his brain but had a big, goofy grin on his face. 

"Yes, Francesca." Benny cleared his throat and put his hat back on. "Detective Kowalski will be joining us."


End file.
